14 May 2009

I was drawn to this poll over at ConservativeHome. The answers to these questions would, I imagine, be similar in other parties:

82% agree that all Conservative MPs facing questions over their behaviour should face deselection meetings.

65% say "it's not nearly enough" for MPs to think that repaying inappropriately claimed expenses is "end of the matter".

Clearly these findings are going to lead to MPs tarnished by the expenses scandal being deselected if they don't themselves stand down. Just as significant are going to be some pretty unique voting patterns on June 4th.

All this could well have a bearing on the date of an early election. Deselecting MPs and subsequent adoption of replacement candidates take time, especially over the Summer months. The expenses scandal could not only save Brown but could also close off any possibility of an early election being called.